


Heaven on Earth

by AkitoAnemone



Series: Prompts [2]
Category: Free!
Genre: Angel/Demon AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-31
Updated: 2014-11-02
Packaged: 2018-01-27 16:39:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1717418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AkitoAnemone/pseuds/AkitoAnemone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Air was rushing around him, and try as he might, he couldn't get his wings working. They flapped uselessly around him, stinging his back and pulling at the skin.</p><p>Rin was falling.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> An anonymous tumblr user gave me a prompt of angel!Rin and demon!Makoto, and I love the idea, but after struggling, I figured I'll just make it a chaptered thing.

Air was rushing around him, and try as he might, he couldn't get his wings working. They flapped uselessly around him, stinging his back and pulling at the skin.

Rin was falling.

There was no time to panic, though Rin tried. He hit the ground before he saw it rushing towards him, and he was unconscious before he knew he hit the ground.

Slowly, Rin's eyes opened, blinking in time with the pounding in his head. The light was bright, but most definitely not heavenly, and as he tried to look around, nothing seemed familiar. 

He was in a room, small but well furnished. Besides the bed, there was a little nightstand and a chair. Rin tried to sit up to see more, but his head throbbed sending a streak of black through his vision, so he concentrated on what he could see. 

On the nightstand, there was a glass of water, but when Rin opened the drawer a crack, there was nothing inside. The walls were pure white and all of the furniture he could see was unfinished wood. Light streamed in from a window, but it was behind him, and Rin couldn't turn around to look out of it. 

So Rin lay, and tried to absorb himself in his thoughts to take him away from both the pain and the situation. But his thoughts were about the situation.

He had fallen. They hadn't told him what he had done wrong. There was no arrest, no trial, not even a warning. Just one second he was up there and the next he was down here. 

Or was he? Maybe it was an accident, just the wrong signal sent out and they had come to collect him. Pain forgotten, Rin twisted around so suddenly in bed that he almost knocked the water down with the blanket. He grabbed onto the window sill and pulled himself up, blinking to get the spots out of his vision.

Miles and miles of fields was all Rin could see. Not heavenly at all, but also nothing like the spawling cities he'd heard about on earth. His heart dropped and he felt tears well up in his eyes.

"Hey, hey, lay back down!" Rin hadn't even heard the door open, but suddenly he was being grabbed and forced on his side. “You hit your head pretty hard,” the voice said, and the pain rushed back, Rin’s vision once again going white. “Are you okay?”

Rin blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision and see who his savior was. He nodded as best as he could.

“Good.” He heard his savior sit down in the chair just as his vision cleared, and suddenly, Rin was looking at someone beautiful. Thick brown hair, olive skin, and a lovely smile. He wanted to smile back, but something stopped him.

His eyes. They looked normal, a regular green, but they didn’t match his smile. They were dull, and when he blinked, Rin could have sworn that they flashed black for a split second. 

“You had quite a fall. Were you a skydiver? I see the planes fly over sometimes.”

Rin couldn’t place it. His head hurt too much to think, but he knew those eyes weren’t angel, and though he’d never met a human, he didn’t think human eyes would be so unsettling. “I fell,” Rin muttered, not taking his eyes off of the other. He didn’t know what a skydiver or a plane was, but he had fallen from the sky. “I don’t remember.”

“That’s okay, take your time,” he said, his gentle smile putting Rin at ease once again. “Oh, my name’s Makoto, by the way. I heard a thud and found you out back--I’m surprised you’re alive at all, but there’s a tree that must have broken your fall a bit.” He shrugged. “But as long as you’re fine. Do you remember your name?”

“Rin.”

“Where are you from?”

Heaven, but Rin figured he shouldn’t answer so honestly. Though his head was fuzzy, he remembered all of the lessons in caution he had received. He shook his head. 

The smile. “Well, then you can just stay here until you recover. Nothing goes on around here, anyway. I guess I’ll leave you to get more rest. Just call if you need anything; I’ll be in the next room.”

Makoto stood up and left, and Rin closed his eyes immediately, a new wave of nausea and pain hitting him like a brick wall. 

But it wasn’t soon enough; Rin still managed to catch a glimpse of the small wisps of black smoke following Makoto as he closed the door.

Demon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pain had lulled Rin to sleep once again, and when he woke up, the sky behind him was dark. He thought it had been a dream, or some sort of hallucination, when he saw the smoke before. His brain hadn’t been entirely clear, and thinking back to it, it was ridiculous. Makoto looked nothing like the pictures he had been shown of demons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a filler chapter. Real plot stuff starts next time <3

Pain had lulled Rin to sleep once again, and when he woke up, the sky behind him was dark. He thought it had been a dream, or some sort of hallucination, when he saw the smoke before. His brain hadn’t been entirely clear, and thinking back to it, it was ridiculous. Makoto looked nothing like the pictures he had been shown of demons.

Plus, Rin had never heard of a demon being kind. A demon would have known he was an angel right away and would have killed him instantly, not take him in. 

Though Rin probably didn’t smell like an angel. His wings were gone, and he was able to feel pain. In this state, he was as good as human.

Not that a demon wouldn’t have ripped a human to shreds, too.

There was also the fact that all of the pictures Rin had ever seen of demons, whether in class or in the books he had read, were ugly creatures with grotesque, lesioned bodies, pitch black eyes, and extra appendages. Makoto had flawless skin and definitely the correct number of appendages. He thought he’d seen Makoto’s eyes flash black, but that could have been another hallucination. Rin had been sick and frightened, and it made sense that his mind would have tried to trick him, so he pushed all of those ridiculous thoughts to the back of his mind and once again concentrated on his situation.

Rin pushed himself into a sitting position, back resting against the headboard of the bed. His head no longer hurt, but his body was sore all over, and his throat was dry. There was a fresh glass of water on the nightstand, still dripping with condensation, and Rin took a drink. The water cooled his throat as he swallowed--he’d never felt anything like it, as angels didn’t need such human necessities. Of course, they’d all tried things--cookies, pie, and Rin’s personal favourite, brownies--but they never thought to drink something as plain as water. He never would have imagined it to taste so fantastic, and the glass was before he knew it, though his throat was still scratchy.

Makoto hadn’t said anything about not leaving the room, so Rin stood, and after stretching his aching limbs, quietly stepped out into a short hallway, empty glass in hand. He knew little of how humans lived, beyond what he had read in books, but assumed that the closed door across from his little bedroom was Makoto’s own and crept past it carefully. 

He walked past a few other doors before coming to a bigger open space. A sitting room, Rin guessed, as there were a few chairs and a couch focused towards what Rin thought was a TV. He hadn’t seen one in person before, and wanted to see if the rumours he’d heard about it being a screen into other worlds were true, but he didn’t want to risk waking Makoto. Plus, water was still more important. 

Next, he passed through an arched doorway and found what he was looking for--the kitchen. It seemed sparse compared to what Rin had heard about humans trying to pack every available space with food. There were a few fruits out on the counter, but nothing else that he could see. Quickly, he got himself more water from the sink, wanting to get back to his room as soon as possible. Something just felt off all of a sudden.

“Rin?” 

That might have been why. The lights came on, and rin blinked a few times to get used to the change. Makoto stood in the doorway in green pajamas rubbing his eyes.

“Everything okay?”

“I was just getting water,” Rin said, holding up his cup.

Makoto nodded. “Are you feeling better, then?”

“Sore, but my head doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Hungry? Or can you wait until morning?”

Hungry? “No, I--” don’t need to eat, he almost said. “I can wait.”

He yawned. “Alright. Can you find your room again?”

Rin followed Makoto back down the dark hallway and said goodnight. Somehow, it wasn’t hard to fall asleep again. He felt relaxed...more relaxed then he ever had in heaven. The thought would have jolted him were he not already too deep asleep.

He woke to the smell of something delicious. The sun was shining over his bed, and he felt much better than he had in the middle of the night. He walked out of his room and looked down the hall. Makoto's door was open, and from what Rin could see, it was much like his own room, white walls and sparsely decorated. 

Not wanting to get caught snooping, Rin continued down the hall, following the smell into the kitchen. Makoto was standing over the small stove, sizzling something in a pan.

"Good morning," Rin said. He sat at a small table in the middle of the room. 

Makoto turned towards him and smiled. "Good morning! You look a lot better today."

"I feel a lot better today. Sleep did the trick."

"That's great." Makoto turned back towards the pan. "Breakfast is almost ready, if you're hungry now."

There was an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach, and he wondered if that was hunger. "What is it?"

"Well, I made bacon, but I have other things if you want something else."

"Bacon? is that meat?" Rin asked. He knew angels never touched meat because of the whole purity and reverence for life thing, and even if he seemed to be gaining more and more human characteristics, he didn't want to break any sacred laws if he could avoid it. "I don't eat meat."

"Oh, well, I have cereal and fruit? You can just look through the cabinets if you want."

"Sure."

They ate in silence, but it was comfortable. Makoto didn’t ask any more questions, and Rin didn’t try to make small talk. 

Makoto informed him that he was welcome to stay a while, because even if he was feeling better, Makoto didn’t want Rin lost and confused somewhere. “I don’t want to push you out if you have no where to go,” he explained, and Rin thanked him for being so generous, offering to help out however he could around the house. 

“That would be great.” Makoto smiled and pulled a list off of the fridge. “I’m going to the store now. You’ll be okay here alone, right?” Rin nodded. “Is there anything you need?”

After a moment of thought, a large smile grew on Rin’s face. “Can you get brownies?”

“Yeah, of course.”

 

Rin wasn’t sure what to do once left alone. He told himself that he wasn’t going to snoop, as much as he wanted to, so he settled for looking at the books that lined shelves in the living room. Nothing really struck his interest, as heaven had quite the library itself, and there was little that Rin hadn’t at least tried to read, though it did seem to be quite the random collection, ranging from classics from around the world to those cheesy romance novels Rin totally hadn’t read before.

He found the TV remote on the arm of the couch, and after a few moments of figuring out how to turn the damn thing on, Rin found himself flipping through channels, amazed by the pictures and colours. Eventually he settled on some daytime soap, getting completely absorbed in the drama.

“Rin.”

Rin jumped. That hadn’t sounded like Makoto, plus he hadn’t heard Makoto come back in. It had almost sounded like...No, Rin shook his head, turning around. Sure enough, there he was. “Sousuke.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyy sorry this took so long. I actually have a plot for this now, so I promise it won't take so long to update. I'll try to get another chapter in this week sometime, and then things will be a bit tight with NaNoWriMo, but after that, this is going to be regularly updated, I swear. 
> 
> If you need to find me, my tumblr is ask-makotoharu, and I take requests there, too. Kudos and comments are appreciated, and as always, thanks for reading <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sousuke smirked. “You’re not exiled. You’d know. If you were exiled, you’d still be an angel, but they’d clip your wings, leaving you broken and defenseless for some demonic earth-roaming creature to find.” He shook his head. “You’re still young, Rin, and you did nothing wrong.”

He wasn’t really there, Rin thought, staring at the other angel before him. Just an apparition. But he was as good as there. His energy wouldn’t be sensed, and he couldn’t be touched, but Sousuke could see and hear anything that went on just like he’d be able to were he actually standing in the room.

“Rin, you look good. How are you feeling?”

“How am I feeling?” Rin stared at the apparition. He was in court robes, and had one more pin on his collar than he had the last time they’d seen each other a few months before. He’d been promoted again. Sousuke had been somewhat of a mentor to the younger Rin, but after his duties were complete and Rin became a full fledged angel, he had only gotten colder and colder. 

To think there was a time when Rin considered Sousuke his best friend.

But it wasn’t the time to question lost friendships. “I guess I’m okay?” Rin replied. “I mean, I’m a little confused, though. If I’m exiled, why are you here?”

Sousuke smirked. “You’re not exiled. You’d know. If you were exiled, you’d still be an angel, but they’d clip your wings, leaving you broken and defenseless for some demonic earth-roaming creature to find.” He shook his head. “You’re still young, Rin, and you did nothing wrong.”

“Well excuse me for thinking that after I found myself falling out of the sky without any wings.”

“They could have done a better job explaining your mission, that’s true.”

Mission? “They didn’t mention anything about it,” he said. “I was literally walking around one second and falling the next.”

“Well, no wonder they sent me, then." Sousuke sighed. "You’re undercover, Rin. You’re here to hunt a demon for us.”

"What? I've never even seen a demon, much less-"

"You have." Sousuke cut him off. This was already taking too long for him. "Makoto." Rin's eyes opened wide, and he opened his mouth to speak, but Sousuke kept going. "He's a nuisance to angels and demons alike, and we finally found him after decades of searching."

Rin was visibly shaking. If he got chased out of the demon realm, Makoto had some serious power. Yet Rin hadn't been able to sense it at all, except for the little glimpses. "Why me?" he asked, and then had a thought. "Am I bait?"

"I already said, you're undercover. You're so new that no one from any side will recognise you, but you're still a full-fledged angel, so you can protect yourself. Bait...don’t underestimate yourself.”

“You know, it’s kind of hard not to. If I’d had some sort of briefing or something--”

“But you didn’t.” Sousuke shrugged, his image flickering a bit. “But you know now. Just keep observing him for a bit. When you think it’s time, you should be able to call your energy back. It’ll be sudden, and he’ll definitely be able to sense you, so you’ll have to do it quickly--you remember how to kill a demon, right?” Rin nodded. “Good. If you think you need backup, call us. We’ll set something up. Any questions?”

Rin shook his head. There were a million things swimming around in his mind, but most of the questions were rhetorical...except; “wait, what did he do?”

Sousuke shook his head. “He tried to stage a rebellion against both heaven and hell, and he almost succeeded. I don’t have the details--it was before my time, too, and it’s generally not talked about.” It made sense, heaven didn’t like to admit to it’s failures, after all. Sousuke nodded. “Well, I wish you luck, Rin.”

“Thanks,” Rin said, still in thought, as the hologram flickered off. It was just so strange. Makoto had given absolutely no signals of being anything other than completely kind. Again, a demon would never spare a human. A demon wasn’t supposed to be anything other than, well, demonic. A pure concentration of evil and rage. 

And if even hell was against Makoto…

The front door opened, and Rin stared at it like a deer in headlights. “Could you help me with some of these--Huh? Rin? Are you okay?” Makoto looked like he had before he left, just like a normal human. No horns, or smoke, or extra limbs, though Rin supposed that if angels could become effectively human, there was nothing stopping demons from having the same property. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

A demon, actually, but close enough. Rin shook his head. “Sorry, you just startled me.” He took one of the bags, doing his best to act as he had been acting. Rin may have been a pretty fantastic angel, but his acting skills left something to be desired, and it didn’t help that his mind was chanting “demon, demon, demon” over and over. “I was really into this show.”

They both glanced at the TV. A man was vacuuming up various spills on various types of flooring, speaking loudly about “calling now” and “special offers,” and a phone number was in bold yellow numbers at the bottom. 

Makoto laughed. “Well, I have a vacuum in the closet if you want to try it yourself, but I’m not sure if it’s as good as that one.”

Rin smiled weakly. “No, I’m good, I think. Where do you want these?”

They spent a while putting away groceries. Or rather, Makoto did. Rin didn’t know where anything was supposed to go, but he did his best. Dairy was to be refrigerated, fruit went either in the fridge or on the counter, crackers and pasta in the cabinet. It wasn’t hard to get the hang of.

“So I was thinking spaghetti for dinner? And then brownies for dessert? I got brownie mix, and the directions are pretty straightforward, so I’ll made the main course if you do the baking.”

Rin read over the brownie directions, and it seemed doable, so he agreed. 

\-----

Makoto ended up doing everything, anyway. Rin ended up getting brownie mix everywhere, and then he put the entire egg--shell and all--into the mix, and finally added way too much oil before Makoto took over the operation, telling Rin to watch the pasta.

Screw the pasta. Rin watched Makoto during the entire ordeal. He hadn’t messed up on purpose, no, baking really just wasn’t his thing, but it was a convenient test of Makoto’s reactions. Demons were supposed to be hotheaded, blowing up when something goes even slightly wrong. Makoto did nothing more than smile, cleaning up Rin’s mess and telling him it was okay.

Somehow, everything was salvaged. The brownies, though they were only half as many as there were supposed to have been, were perfectly soft and chewy. The pasta was also fantastic. He’d been pretty limited to tasting either fruit or sweets when he was an angel, so actual human food was a completely new experience, and it was absolutely fantastic.

“You’re eating like you’ve never had a good meal before,” Makoto said, obviously amused. 

Rin shook his head. “I uh...I don’t really remember, but I don’t think anyone I lived with was good at cooking. I’m certainly not.”

“Well, that’s okay. If you want to learn, I can teach you, but if not, I don’t mind cooking. I’m so used to cooking for myself, making a bit more is no trouble.”

It was a chance to ask more. Makoto hadn’t talked much about himself, Rin noticed, but that had probably been because he was worried about Rin. If he were a regular human, Makoto would have been almost just as strange with his selfless demeanor. From everything Rin had heard, there were very few humans who weren’t selfish assholes. “Why are you living out here by yourself, anyway? Don’t you have a family?”

“I like it here.” He shrugged. “My family wasn’t too great, so I moved out pretty much as soon as I could. And I’ve never really liked the city atmosphere. Too much stress.” Makoto tapped his fingers on the table. “I’ve moved around a bit since then, but I really like it here. It’s quiet, yeah, but it’s beautiful, and the people are really nice.”

Instead of getting proof, all Rin was getting was more and more confused. Honeslty, Makoto seemed to be a more decent person than a lot of the angels he knew. Though, all of the family stuff must have been made up, unless he meant the other demons.

They talked late into the night, and it felt more and more natural with each word. Unlike breakfast that morning, conversation started to come naturally, and though of course neither of them were saying anything too personal, they told their likes and dislikes, and Makoto let Rin know some of the things that went on around town.

Rin tossed and turned in bed that night, not able to get himself past this. All demons were supposed to be the same, but then there was Makoto, apparently a huge threat to both heaven and hell, but the nicest being Rin had ever met. It wasn’t like revolutions were organized with kindness; if they were, Makoto would have surely won, with barely any resistance. But the world didn’t work that way.

Either Makoto was a really good actor, or there was some mistake. The more Rin thought about it, the more he really hoped it was the latter.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you have a prompt, send it to me at ask-makotoharu.tumblr.com


End file.
